All Saints Academy, a K-12 private school in Winter Haven, presents its annual all school production March 11 through 13 at the Polk Theatre in downtown Lakeland. This year’s fare is “OLIVER!” which boasts a cast of students ranging from grades 2 through 12 plus members of the faculty and administration. Tickets are $20/adults and $15/students. Advance tickets by calling the school at 863-293-5980 option 2, or available at the door before the show.Show times are 7pm on Friday, March 11 and Saturday, March 12; and 2pm Sunday, March 13.

Director Paul Hughes, in his program notes comments, that it is always a challenge picking a musical for All Saints all-school production because there needs to be roles for all ages of students and that “OLIVER!” is a great choice because of the chorus of orphans, pickpockets, townspeople and over 25 speaking roles. In addition he says, “It is a splendid story with beautiful music. “Oliver!” is such an interesting story from the pen of Charles Dickens –a scathing comment on the child labor practices of industrial England of the 1830s. This dark and beleaguering story is juxtaposed by comic relief and one of the world’s greatest musical theater scores. That makes it a rare gem. It has won three Tony awards, a Laurence Olivier award, a Gold Mask award, and in 1968 it won two Golden Globe awards and six Oscars –including best picture of the year.” He comments on the sheer magnitude of putting on a production such as OLIVER! “Between the cast, the stage crew, orchestra, front of house, parent volunteers, and staff, the all school musical involves at least 200 people. It is truly living proof of the vitality, unity and solidarity that exists within our community at this
school.”

About This Blog

I was thrilled to be asked by The Ledger to become its first theatre blogger. Already writing preview articles about Polk County’s community theatres and feature articles for Inside Polk Magazine, I thought blogging uk essay writing service would be fun and fulfill a need for the community.

I have long been on a soap box about the abundance of available local entertainment. When someone complains that there is not much to do culturally in Polk County, I am not shy about telling them that they just aren’t looking. So I am thrilled to be able to let the buy papers online local community know, via my blog, about all the wonderful and varied theatrical venues and performances that are available in Polk County, sometimes in very surprising places.